Richard Davenport-Hines

The horrors of 1922 included atrocities, assassinations and the rise of Mussolini

Nick Rennison describes the massacre of the Greeks in Smyrna, the murders of several politicians and the declaration of Italy as a fascist state

The Greek quarter of Smyrna after its devastation by the Turks. [Alamy] 
issue 08 January 2022

Sixty years ago the Daily Express ran a regular feature entitled ‘Just Fancy That!’ Each short segment highlighted some strange coincidence or weird incident that would hook readers’ interests. Human oddities, unlucky mischances, freaks of nature and improbable statistics were dealt out every day. It made for easy reading, but sometimes gave pause for thought.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY A MONTH FREE
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Try a month of Britain’s best writing, absolutely free.

Comments

Join the debate, free for a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first month free.

Already a subscriber? Log in